Framed Fabric Letter Tutorial

I don't know about you guys, but I completely fell in love with this monogram S over at Tiffanys house. I knew I needed one and luckily there was a lot less sewing involved that I had originally thought!

The first thing you need to do is go into Word or Word Perfect and find yourself a letter with your initial that you really like and that is fat enough that you can use lots of pieces of fabric. Then print it off as big as you can. Then take it to your local print shop and have them blow it up to the size you would like! You may want to go look at frame sizes before you do this so you can just buy an already made frame and not have to pay to have it framed. I almost forgot if your initial is not a letter that is symmetrical (the same on both sides if you were to cut it in half) You will actually need the mirror image of the letter so that it's not flipped around when you iron your pieces on. (Does that make any sense whatsoever??? I wish I could explain it better, sorry!)

Now go to the fabric store and buy a bunch of small fabric pieces. (1/8 yard is perfect). You also need either Wonder Under or Heat and Bond. My opinion is that Heat and Bond is easier to work with (not so delicate), but Wonder Under is easier to sew through, so I used Wonder Under. Get enough that it will cover your letter. Place the Wonder Under over the letter (w/fusible webbing on the inside by your letter) and trace it! You also need to buy a piece of fabric that will be the background for your letter, don't make it too small or it will be hard to strech nicely and frame.

Now just draw lines where ever your want the different pieces of fabric to go. Be sure to number them so it will be easier to put together once their cut out. I numbered mine all on the bottom so I would know top from bottom. Now cut them out.





Iron them onto small pieces of fabric that have been cut a little larger then your Wonder Under piece.



Now cut them out.

Ok, from here on out, sorry, no pictures I got too excited and forgot. But it's pretty self explanatory. Iron your pieces on to the background fabric starting with number one. Iron them as close together as possible. Now choose a stitch that you like on your sewing machine, (zig zag or the blanket stitch works great, I don't know what the stitch I used is called but it worked really well also). Start with the stitching the areas where the two fabrics come together and then stitch around the outside! You can click on my picture for a better view!


Then I just went to the local craft store and bought a frame (I'm wishing I would have bought one with a thicker frame but oh, well). I also had them cut me a mat to the size of the frame and then I stretched the fabric around it at stapled it. And WA LA, you done!

Here is the one that my friend Mimi Sue made. By the way, she really deserves the credit for this since she is the one who taught both me and Tiffany how to make one.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment, I will answer them in the comment box too, because to be honest, I am to lazy to e-mail! One more thing, if you end up making this, e-mail me a picture, I would love to see it.

cardswappinmom@yahoo.com